……. as USAID S2S organises workshop on budget performance
By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
Thirty One (31) Members of the Bauchi State House of Assembly under the leadership of its Speaker Rt.Hon. Abubakar Y. Sulaiman and State Commissioners of Budget and Economic Planning, Health, Education and their Permanent Secretaries have commenced a Two Days (2) high level 2023 Bauchi State Budget Performance Review with a view to assessing the budget per in the Health, Basic Education and WASH Sectors of the State.
The high level budget review workshop organised, by USAID State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness (USAID State2State) is taking place in Kano between 29th to 30th April, 2024.
In a welcome remarks before the commencement of the workshop, USAID State2State Bauchi field office Team Lead (STL) Rabi Ekele thanked the high calibre participants for honouring the invitation to participate.
Ekele said that the objective of the Workshop was aim to further deepened the capacity of the members in its oversight functions budget processes for improved performance in the USAID State2State focused sectors of primary healthcare, basic education and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
The STL then thanked Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State for the immense support and goodwill USAID State2State is enjoying in the course of supporting the State.
Declaring the workshop open, the Speaker of Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA), Right Honourable Abubakar Y. Sulaiman thanked USAID State2State for their interests in strengthening the capacity of BAHA members for optimal performance in carrying out their oversight functions.
The speaker said that such interests demonstrated by USAID State2State will not be taken for granted, pointing out that, with the support of Governor Bala Mohammed, the tenth assembly had carried out more oversight duties than the previous assemblies.
He assured that the current workshop will further strengthen their resolve to do more towards ensuring adequate budget releases and implementation of the 2024 budget and other subsequent budgets.
There was a goodwill message from the Regional Advisor of USAID Learn2Read Bauchi , Dr. Bilyanimu Bello Inuwa, where he commended USAID State2State Project for its dedication to supporting good governance and institutional strengthening at the subnational level.
Dr. Inuwa used the opportunity to request the legislators to support the State Education MDAs in the procurement of teaching and learning materials and also fund training for teachers to ensure better learning outcomes in the State.
While making a presentation on the State Budget Process and the Role of the Legislators, Bauchi State Commissioner for Budget, Economic Planning and Multilateral Coordination, Alhaji Aminu Hammayo informed the participants that the 2023 Budget performance has appreciated from what obtained in the years before then.
Hammayo emphasized that so much more could be achieved by the Legislators, stressing that the law empowered them to monitor implementation of appropriated funds as part of their oversight functions.
The Commissioner then recommended that a more effective legislative committees, deployment of ICT/New tools and use of quality data as evidence, would go a long way in ensuring proper monitoring of the implementation of budgets.
Our correspondent reports that other presentations were focused on summary of State 2023 budget performance in the Health, Basic Education and WASH sectors by the Ministry of Budget, Economic Planning and Multilateral Coordination, which generated robust discussions by all the participants.